Red Zone (27 page)

“No,” she choked out. “I don’t. When I joined the FBI, my dad saw it as a betrayal. Mom took his side. I haven’t spoken to them since my graduation from college.”

“And Megan?”

“She used to talk to Mom once in a while, but eventually, Mom kept bringing me up, trying to turn Megan against me, so Megan stopped accepting her calls.”

He brushed his fingers through her hair absentmindedly. She could tell he was deep in thought. 

“Can you do me a favor?” she asked.

“I will do anything you want, beautiful.” 

“Kiss me.” It came out more like a command than a request. 

Gage didn’t seem to care. 

“Gladly,” he murmured as his lips connected with hers. All thoughts of her parents faded into the background as Gage reminded her of all the wonderful things he could make her feel.

Chapter 24

Gage finally dragged himself out of bed just before nine o’clock. It was difficult to leave the warm comfort of his bed, especially when it had the added bonus of Rebecca in it, but he couldn’t be late for practice. Laps and a stern lecture from his coach the last time weren’t things he wished to repeat anytime soon. As it was, he had to forgo his morning swim. A small sacrifice, all things considered. Besides, he’d gotten his morning cardio in without having to leave his bedroom. Maybe one of these days he could convince Rebecca to join him in his pool, although he doubted there’d be much swimming involved.

Much to his dismay, they had to shower separately in the interest of time. Their last shower was something he was hoping to repeat. He did engage, however, in a long, lingering kiss that included some groping before he had to go inside the stadium. Rebecca had a way of giving all of herself to a task, and that included kissing. Once she’d gotten over whatever hurdle there’d been in her head, she’d gone into it full throttle. He loved it. Their make-out session in the parking lot wasn’t nearly enough, but it would have to do until he could get her back home. 

Even forgoing a combined shower, he was cutting it close as he walked into the locker room. He hurried and changed into his practice gear before jogging down the hall and out through the tunnel that led to the field. It was going to be a brutal day. Their coach always pushed them extra hard when they came back from a bye week. He didn’t want them slacking and going into Sunday’s game unprepared after the time off.

Gage made it to the field with only a minute to spare. His coach saw him, frowned, and glanced down at his watch, shaking his head. Everyone on the team knew he had a girlfriend. It didn’t take a lot to put two and two together and figure out that he was running late due to extracurricular activities. He joined the rest of the offensive line as they huddled around the offensive coordinator to go over the practice schedule for the day. There was to be an extra hour of scrimmages along with some intense footwork. If the guys on defense had anything to say about it, he’d be sporting some bruises by the end of the day.

Ignoring some of the smirks he got from a few of his teammates as they spread out to begin their warm-up, he tried to get his mind in the game and off Rebecca. This week would be another tough game, made more challenging by the fact that they were coming off a bye. Texas was playing strong this year. They played hard, fast, and liked to put points on the board. Gage and the offense would have to keep up, or be left in the dust.

Kenny and Zach flanked him as he started to stretch. He knew the ambush was coming, and they didn’t disappoint. 

“Are we ever going to see you at the club again?”

“Yeah, man. Two weeks in a row now you’ve skipped out on us.”

Gage shrugged and continued with his stretches. “You guys came over last Monday. You know about Rebecca’s sister.”

“Yeah. Megan,” Kenny said with a predatory smile. 

“Watch it,” Gage said. 

“Oooooh. Protective,” Kenny joked. “Sorry, man. Didn’t know it was like that.”

Gage sighed, lay back, and began doing crunches. “It’s not
like
anything. She’s my girlfriend’s sister. End of story. I just know how you are when it comes to women.” He tried to keep his tone light, but for some reason the idea of Megan hooking up with Kenny bothered him. Maybe Rebecca’s protective streak was rubbing off on him.

“Okay. If you say so.”

“I do.”

Everyone concentrated on their workouts for the next several minutes. The silence was charged, and Gage felt bad. A month ago, he would have been right there with Kenny in his assumptions. Given his previous relationship with the female population, he really couldn’t blame his friend. Kenny wasn’t ready to settle down. Of course, Gage hadn’t been either until recently.

“How are things with Angie?” he asked Kenny, trying to change the subject as they flipped over and began a set of push-ups.  

“Not much to tell. We’ve hooked up a couple of times. You know the deal.”

“So nothing long-term there?”

Kenny laughed. “No. Not even close. What about you, Zach? How’d your date with the bartender go?”

Zach’s smile said it all. “Tonight’s her night off. I’m taking her to a comedy club downtown.”

“So things are getting serious, then?”

“Not quite as serious as you and Rebecca, but . . . yeah.”

“Wow. I’m going to start feeling like the third wheel,” Kenny said, flopping down on his back.

“Stop chasing tail and find a girl, then,” Zach said, only partly in jest.

Gage smiled, but that unease began to settle in again. After realizing he loved Rebecca, he couldn’t imagine her walking out of his life. He had to figure out a way to get her to stay or at least give a relationship between them a chance. He had no idea how that would work with both their jobs, but there had to be a way. The problem was how did he tell her he wanted her in his life—permanently—without sending her running in the opposite direction?

Practice was long, and he hadn’t been wrong about the bruises. They were already forming. To add to it, their coach asked him to stay after for a few minutes. It didn’t take a mind reader to know that their conversation would be about his new relationship. Sure enough, Gage had gotten a nice little pep talk reminding him that he needed to stay focused and keep his mind on Sunday’s game, something he already knew and was desperately trying to do. His coach never came out and said anything about Rebecca and his relationship with her, but he did hint that, with playoffs in sight, it might not be the best time to spend his energies elsewhere. He knew his coach meant well and was just looking out for the team as a whole, but there was no way he would cool it with Rebecca. Especially when it might be all the time he had with her. 

When he walked into the locker room, most of the guys were already out of the showers and getting ready to leave. He quickly stripped out of his gear and headed for the hot steam that would ease the ache in his muscles. One of his teammates, a defensive back, nodded to Gage as he turned on the spray in the far corner and began washing off the grime. 

One by one, the other guys left the showers, leaving him alone. Gage closed his eyes and leaned back against the tile wall, letting his mind drift a little. 

“Mr. Daniels?” A familiar male voice yelled into the shower area. “You in there?”

“Yeah.” Gage pushed off the wall, and reached for the handle to turn off the water. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

It had taken him a few seconds, but he recognized the man’s voice as one of the stadium’s security. Grabbing his towel, Gage wrapped it around his waist and walked out into the locker room where the man was waiting. 

“Everything okay?” Gage asked, reaching for another towel to dry his upper body. The security guard stood there, relaxed. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be that bad.

“This came for you up in the main office. They also wanted me to let you know that Mr. Donovan said he wants to see you before you leave.” 

Of course, he does.

Gage took the envelope from the man and thanked him. No doubt Tim wanted to see if this was another note from his stalker.

Just looking at the handwritten letters on the front of the envelope, he knew it was. It was too much to hope that whoever was behind this had been spooked by nearly being caught on Sunday. No, whoever his stalker was, he or she wasn’t giving up. He knew Hansen had insisted this was a good thing, but Gage wasn’t so sure. He just wanted it to stop. He also wished he understood the motivation behind it all. Maybe if he did, he could figure out who was doing this. 

Not bothering to open the letter, he laid it on his bench, dug his cell phone out of his locker, and dialed Rebecca’s number. She answered on the second ring. 

“You’re late.” Her voice was serious, but he could hear the levity there, too. 

He chuckled. 

“I know. Coach needed to talk to me after practice.”

“Okay. Are you on your way out now, then?”

“No.” He positioned the phone between his ear and shoulder, so he could finish drying off and slip his jeans on. “Mr. Donovan wants to see me.” Gage paused, knowing she wasn’t going to like this next part. He didn’t either. “And I got another envelope.”

He could almost see her sitting up, suddenly at attention. The sound of a car door opening made him realize she must have already been in his SUV waiting for him. 

“What does it say?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t opened it yet.”

“Where are you?”

Her breathing pattern had changed, and he knew she must have been jogging or running.

“I’m fine. I’m still in the locker room.”

“Are you alone?”

He glanced around, even though he knew all the other guys had already gone, including the security guard. “Yes.” 

“You’re closer to the players’ entrance than you are to Donovan’s office, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Rebecca, calm down. Nothing’s going to happen to me here. There are security cameras everywhere.”

“Gage, just please do this. For me.” Hearing her pleading finally broke his resolve.

“Okay. I’ll meet you there in less than two minutes,” he said, taking a clean shirt out of his bag and putting it on over his head. 

He stuffed his dirty clothes into his bag and tossed the letter on top before zipping it up, throwing the bag over his shoulder, and heading out of the locker room. She was freaked. He just didn’t understand why. This wasn’t the first time he’d ever been in the locker room by himself, and it wouldn’t be the last. Sure, they’d gotten shot at in the parking lot outside the club, but that had been out in a public place. He couldn’t see anyone breaking in and doing anything here. It would be too easy to be caught, and whoever this was didn’t strike him as someone who wanted to be found out.

When he reached the door leading to the players’ parking lot, he saw Rebecca pacing. She must have used her pass to let herself into the building. 

“Hey.” 

She hurried to close the remaining distance between them and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. 

“Whoa. Are you okay?” He held her tight. Her reaction was a little over the top. As he held her, though, he realized she’d thought him to be in danger. Maybe her reaction meant she felt more for him than she was admitting.

“I’m fine,” he assured her. “Other than being a little sore from practice, I’ve never been better.”

She stepped back, checking him over visibly for any injuries. Once she appeared convinced that he was indeed unharmed, she collected herself and went into professional mode. He didn’t like seeing her so freaked out, but he wasn’t a big fan of “Agent Carson” either. He wanted . . . he
needed
his Rebecca.

“Do you have the envelope?” she asked, all of the previous emotion gone.

He shifted the bag off his shoulder, opened it, and handed her the letter.

 Somewhere between her question and his giving her the envelope, she’d slipped on a pair of latex gloves. She flipped the envelope over, examining it, just as she had the last time. Once she seemed satisfied with whatever she was looking for, she ran her finger under the seal to open it. 

When Gage saw the contents, it registered that this one had felt lighter than the others, and with good reason. The envelope contained a single photo of Rebecca walking across a street. The picture had been taken earlier that day, most likely when she was going from the players’ parking lot to the café that morning. 

He was so caught up in the picture, not understanding its meaning, that he almost missed the small piece of paper that had come along with it. It wasn’t until he saw Rebecca’s hands clench that he glanced up to see what had stolen her attention. He looked back down and read the note. Unlike the other handwritten notes, this one was typed in bold, black letters.

GET RID OF HER!

Chapter 25

The words jumped off the page at Rebecca, and things started to fall into place for her. At least, as far as the photos Gage had been receiving. All of them had included him with various women. Before, she’d thought it was an interesting bit of information, but she’d viewed it as more a comment on his lifestyle choices than anything else. After this current photo, she was thinking it was intentional. Whoever it was, they weren’t honing in on Gage specifically, but more his relationships with the female population. 

Who would care who Gage dated, though? Or more accurately, who he slept with? An ex-girlfriend, perhaps?

Gage ripped the paper out of her hands and held it in front of him. His face was intense, almost scary. Although she knew she should take the paper back, guard it as evidence, his expression stopped her. They had the photo and plenty of other notes. That would have to be enough.

“Do you have any idea who would have a problem with the women in your life?” she asked.

“What?” He glanced up at her in disbelief.

“All the photographs you’ve been sent have one thing in common. All of them, with this one exception, have been of you and women you’ve had some type of relationship with.”

“I don’t think I would consider sex a relationship.”

She winced. Even though she knew that’s what they had—
all
they had, really—it hurt a little to hear him say it.